Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Friday said that the annual yatra to the Holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir should be restricted to just a month instead of 60 days.
Jamaat-e-Islami has removed the hardline leader in an attempt to moderate the extremist voices in the separatist amalgam.
The hard-line Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday said it was willing to consider the offer of talks by Centre-appointed interlocutors, but the Delhi police's restriction orders on Syed Ali Shah Geelani had put a spanner in this direction."Hurriyat had decided to discuss the invitation of the Centre's interlocutors after the return of Geelani from Delhi, but his detention has delayed the meeting, where a decision would have been taken on the issue," Hurriyat spokesman said.
"We have seen enough of strikes and curfews for the past four months and now we want to feed our families. We cannot go on forever like this," a vendor, who identified himself only as Khalid, told PTI
Calling for a boycott of the Centre's interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir, hardline Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani said they had been appointed as part of a 'dirty trick' to mislead United States President Barack Obama.
Highly-placed sources in the ministry said that an advice from the legal department was received that prima facie a case can be registered against Geelani and others for making statements which are seen as an attempt to instigate secession. The sources said the Delhi Police has been asked to register a case, which they are expected to do soon.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been re-elected chairman of his group, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) for a term of three years. Geelani's term was to expire on Sunday and he was elected unopposed, according to a spokesman here.
Earlier this month, Geelani was given a passport valid for a year on humanitarian grounds after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened so that he could seek treatment abroad.
Jammu and Kashmir police Wednesday evening filed an FIR against hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Masarat Alam Bhat and other separatist leaders 'for provocative activities and hoisting Pakistan flag' in summer capital Srinagar.
Stone-pelting broke out in Baramulla town of north Kashmir soon after hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Friday addressed a gathering there, police said.
Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, facing probe in a hawala case, was on Tuesday stopped by the Delhi police from going to Srinagar after he tried to leave the city despite a notice by police against him.
Writer Arundhati Roy, Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others were booked on charges of sedition by Delhi Police for their "anti-India" speech at a seminar in Delhi. They were charged under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 504 (insult intended to provoke breach of peace) and 505 (false statement, rumour circulated with intent to cause mutiny or offence.
Two days ago, the senior Hurriyat leader underwent surgery for cancer in the kidney at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.
The 91-year-old was buried at a mosque near his residence according to his wishes, his close aides said.
Rubbishing the interlocutors' report on Kashmir, hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Friday said their boycott by separatists has been vindicated as the document is like a "dead mouse" found after digging a mountain.
Shops, business and educational institutions in the Kashmir valley remained closed, official sources said.
Authorities in Srinagar have placed breakaway Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani under house arrest, apprehending trouble in view of his scheduled visit to north Kashmir's Kupwara district, where a teacher was shot dead by soldiers on Friday.
In a communication to the Jamaat-e-Islami leader, OIC functionary Abdul Ahad-al-Aziz addressed Geelani as the chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, sources close to Geelani told PTI.
Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, under house arrest since Thursday, was detained on Friday when he tried to defy restrictions to lead a march to the United Nations Military Observers group office in Srinagar. "Geelani was detained and lodged in police station Humhama on the airport road when he tried to come out of his house at Hyderpora to lead a march to UNMOGIP," a police spokesman told PTI.
The separatist had applied for a passport to allow him to visit his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia.
The Delhi police on Wednesday recorded the statement of pro-Pakistan hardliner Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani in connection with the allegations that he had given a recommendation letter to arrested Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant Athesham Malik for getting a Pakistani visa.
Varun Gandhi has been gaoled for reportedly making provocative statements. Would any ministry, ever dare apply the same draconian laws against the Hurriyat Conference chairman?
Geelani should be given travel documents on top priority for going to the West for treatment, the Hurriyat said.
Chairmen of both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference (HC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Moulvi Omar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Mohammad Yaseen Malik have been put under house arrest to prevent them from leading the Friday demonstrations in the valley.
The Delhi High Court issued notice to the city government seeking its response as to why criminal case should not be registered against hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, writer Arundhati Roy and Delhi University professor S A R Geelani for allegedly making anti-India speeches.
Muslim Majlis leader Asaduddin Owaisi and two others accompanied Yechury when they met Geelani at his residence. Geelani had refused to meet the all-party delegation that is currently in Srinagar
Senior Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been asked by probe agencies not to leave Delhi to face investigations in connection to the recently unearthed Hawala money trail in Kashmir.The Hurriyat faction led by Geelani, who is a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, attempted to downplay the investigations in the Hawala case. The outfit also called a bandh in the Valley on Tuesday for the 'harassment' of their leader in Delhi.
Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani told Pakistan's Friday Times that the two militant outfits 'have never acted in a manner that is against humanity or morality'.
Ahead of the resumption of Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan tomorrow, visiting Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir met Geelani for 90 minutes.
A spokesman for the HC Aiyaz Akbar told UNI that a large number of Jammu and Kashmir police personnel had been deployed outside Geelani's residence in Hyderpora locality of the state since early Saturday morning.
A spokesman said Geelani was to lead a procession in the city in protest against the alleged increase in the Human Rights violations, particularly the killing of a student by security forces at Dalgate on August 9.
Chiefs of both factions of Hurriyat Conference -- Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq -- were on Saturday placed under house arrest in the national capital as a preventive measure following the hanging of Afzal Guru in the Parliament attack case.
Chairman of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani was again put under house arrest on Thursday to prevent him from taking part in the Friday congregation at the holy Hazratbal shrine.Geelani had given a 'Hazratbal chalo' call to offer special prayers for the 'victory' in the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board forest land issue. A spokesman of the HC, Aiyaz Akbar, told UNI that a large number of police personnel were deployed outside his residence.
Denying any ambition of capturing power, Geelani said, "I am neither struggling for power, nor for any office. I want to see my nation free. If I die in the struggle it is my fortune," he said.
Life in Srinagar and other major towns was affected by a shutdown called by the hard-line separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani to coincide with the first death anniversary of a student killed by a tear smoke shell hit in old city last year.
This was disclosed by party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad at a press conference in New Delhi.
Geelani cleared for Haj pilgrimage: J&K govt